By Bike | Week 12 (Miles 972 – 1084)

I turn 30 next month. The big three-oh, they say. One of those important numbers that’s a multiple of 5.

I mention this only because I’ve realized a couple of things in the last few weeks:

I’m in the best cycling shape of my life.

I might be in the best overall shape of my life.

It was easy really. I didn’t need interval workouts or hill repeats. There were no special 6 hour rides or trips to the gym to lift weights. I didn’t get on the trainer once. All it took was an almost daily ride to work and back and few Saturday rides with Sam.

I’m not saying I couldn’t be faster-trust me, I’m not that fast. If I were going to enter a race, I’d probably need to do a few intervals and hill repeats and make myself suffer in ways I can only vaguely remember from my years on the cross-country team. But, the beauty of all this, is I’m not going to enter a race. Every ounce of strength I find in my legs is for me. So, it doesn’t matter if I take a day off. It doesn’t matter if, instead of bringing myself to the redline, I just spin home.

But we’ll see how I really feel when Levi’s Gran Fondo rolls around and I’m faced with the prospect of climbing King Ridge Colman valley Road…